Combined door spring and buffer



' 1 2 sh'eigsesheet 1. H. A. HOUSE & H. A. HOUSE, Jr.

GQMBINED. DOOR SPRING AND BUFFER. No. 367,634.

- Patented Aug. 1887.

. Maia/W 91 BEST RV 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

E, EH SE WM u Hw P &S m E m u d o M o W .III-

UNITED STATES PATENT omen.

HENRY house AND iruNnY A. iio'usn, Jn, on nmoc nron'r, con nsc'rion'r.

commune noon SPRING Ann BUFFER.

SPECIFICATION forming partof Letters Patent No. 367,634, dated A zguiit 2, 1887.

Application filed February 14, 1887: Smlnl No. 997,6"; (Nu mollcL) To all whom it may concern.-

Be t k nown that we, iilzlNltY A. HOUSE and HENRY A.'H0Usn,Jr., citizens of the United State's, residing at Brit oport, in the county ct Fairfield and State ofijonnecticut, have in vented certain new and useful Improvements screens,shutters, &c.; and it consistsin' con-.

strnctingthe same as fully setforth hereinafter, and as illustrated iii-the accompanying drawings, in whichi Figure l is an external elevation of our improved device as constructed and applied to a door to constitute a combined door spring and buffer. Figs. 2 and 3 are sectional elevations, enlarged, showing'the parts in difi'erent posi films. Fig. 4 is a section on the line I 2, Fig.

2. 2 Fig. 5 is a section on the line-3 4, Figi 2.

Fig; 6 is a section onthe line 5 (i, Fig. 2. Fig. 7 is a distorted perspective view illustrating the construction of part of the device. Figs. 8 and 9 are views illustrating modifications,

v the device when applied to a door.

The case A of the device is constructed in any suitable 'mahner, and contains a central spindle, B, and a coiled spring, G, socon nected with the spindle and with the case that the turning of the spindle compresses the spring, and the case and spindle are connected, respectively, with the door and frame of the door in such manner that the opening or closing of thedoor, as the case may be, is the means 'of winding up or compressing the spring, the reaction of which imparts a reverse movement Y tothe door when-the latter is released. 4

Inasmuch as the unimpeded action of the spring will cause the sudden closing or opening or banging ofthe door,weprovide means whereby a teinporaryyielding resistance is made to "the action of the spring, but without in any way impairing the effective force of the latter in f ui'a'lly closing the door or opening it, as the d gs-m be, while no resistance whatever is oh red to the movement of the door in the re- 4 Such a resistance is afforded 1 m. body of water, oil, or other non-compressible fluid acted upon by a piston put in motion by the turning ofthe spindle and caused to passthrougha contracted opening by the eraily-projectingg arms,

. movement of the piston in such manner as to resist the said movement and retard it without preventing it, so that the closing of the door, whilcsomewhat retarded, is eli'ectunlly seen red by the action of the spring.

Different modes of connecting the piston so as to slide under the rotation of the spindle may be employed-a.s, for instance, by pro viding the spindle with a quick thread, as

shown in Fig. 8, and placing the piston l) upon itas a nut, the piston sliding in the case, but being prevented from turning by means of ribs or projections 22, entering notches I; f; in the piston. in Fig. 9 the piston is shown as connect-ed by links =1 to arms 5 of the spindle, lay which the same rcsull is secured. "We prefer, however, to providctho piston with inclines acted upon by hearings or arms provided with rollers projecting from the spindle, as best shown in Figs. 2, 3, 5, and 7. In this construction the spindle has two lot- 7 7,-cach carrying a conical antifriction roller, S.jztnd the piston D has upon its upper face two oppositely-arranged projections, 6 6, each inclined downword. upon opposite sides of its highest point or apex at, so as to form an annular bearing having twooppositc high points or projeci which bear upon an annular double-inclined 9 cam, E, corresponding in form to the bearingface upon the piston, and thiscam is-eonnected with the spindleB 'to rotate therewith, and the bearings g are intermediate of the bearingrollers 8, so that as the hearings move ioward the upper portions'of the cam 1' the 'rollers 8 will descend toward the lower portions of the bearing upon the piston, which is therefore moved positively downward by the bearing-rollers Sand positively upward by the annular cam E.

--tions and two intermediate low points or re- Water, glycerine, or thcr fluid is placed in the casing A, so as to fill the space below and coventhe piston D, and the piston is either loosely fitted in the case or is provided with contracted opcni ngs, so that as it isforced down ward the fluid can escape but slowly from the bottom to the top of the piston, thereby rctarding the movement of the letter. The openings may be made directly in the piston,as shown in Figs. 8. and 9. where each opening, 13, is shown as closed at'the lower side by a spring-supported valve, 14, so that the piston may rise without resistance when the door is open,.but the valves will partially close when the piston begins to descend, so as to obstruct th'e'upwerd iiow of the fluid. A preferable" construction is shown in the remaining views of the drawings, where the spindle B is providedwith an opening or channel, 18, having an outlet near the lower-end of the spindle,

and another above the highest. point reached by the piston, fund the piston has a central opening, 13, to which is tilted avalve, 14,-s'up-' ported'by a light spring, 15, which insures the valve closing at once as the piston begins to descend; but the upward movement of thepi's-- ton is edected without resistance, as the valve then opens downward, pcrmitting'the fluid to glow through the opening 13 to the space be-' The resistance to the descent of thcpiston results from obstructing the channel-l8, and in order to permit this to be effected without dismembcring the article,we use an adj ustable U stop-valve, 19, which may be adj ustcd by any suitable device from the outside of the case.

For instance, the valve may be the conical without the abrupt movements i ncidcnt to the.

use of springs unobstructed in thcir action.

To simplify and facilitate the construction of the device, we form the cascA in two parts, 19 20,'one with a flange overlapping theother, to which it is secured by suitable screws, and the upper part, 19, is provided with the attachments for connecting it to the door,'so that the lower part maybe withdrawnwithout (iiscannccting the said attachments. The spring 0 is supported in the case by a plate, 6, resting upon a shoulder and provided with an annular track-bearing for the rollers 8, and the outer end of the spring is connected to an annular shell or sleeve, H, fitting within the case to turn freely and capable of being turned within thecase, so as to apply any desired tension to the spring; One -'means of thus turning the shell H consists in providing it with openings w, arranged to be exposed through a slot or opening, 11, in the case A, and the-shell H will then be turned by-iuscrt ing; pins Y in the opening 10 until the desired tension is'imparted to the spring, after which one ofthc pins is inserted in position to bear against the edge of the opening 1:, and there- 'by prevent the shell. from'turning back. A

worm-shalt or other suitable device maybe used forturningg-the shell H, instead of the device'described; V 7

An important feature of ouraimve-described device consists in the construction of parts .of the door exists only during a partial movementof thespihdlc-that is, during the time that-the bearing-rollers are traveling from the lower to the highest points of the bearing-surfacezfl- This permits the said points to beso placed that the bearing-rollers will begin to move from said points downward just before the door is full y closed, so that the force of the spring is exerted toclosethe door to such an extent as to overcome the resistance of the spring of thedooriatclr. The bearing-rollers 8 pass from the highest points, a. The piston then begins to descend, thus instantly remov ing all resistance to"tho'closin of the door, thereby insuring its perfect o osing, which might. not result ii the resistance were continued till the end of the movement of the door.

The case A may either be-carris d by the door or the framc,with any suitable cc ections between them. In Fig. 10 the spindleisshown as provided with an arm,'I, and the spring is arranged within the casing and connected to the latter and the spindle, so as to exert a force in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 10, to ,turn' the spindle in said direction and carry with it the arm I. The arm I is connected by means of an extensible rod, j, to a stud, k, upon the door-frame, so that when the door is open the spindle is turned in a direction the reverse of that indicated by the arrow, and when the door. is released thefo'rcc of the spring, turning the spindlein the direction of the arrow, causes the door to be closed.

' It is desirable in many cases to prevent the spring which returns the door to its position from being overstrained, as would result if an equal tension were applied to wind or compress mitting the pivot or joint 1 between the 'arm.

I and connecting-rod j to be carried beyond a line, t, passing through the pivot orjoint u, connecting the rodj to the studlqas shown in Fig. 10, so that when the door, hinged ,at 15,

IIO

is in its fully-opened position (shown in-Fig. 11) the tendency of the spring to move the arm I in the direction of the arrow will be exerted to hold the door in its open position instead of to close it.

In order to permit the action of the spring to be reversed, we provide for the ready reversal of the spring by connecting it'detacha-' bly at either of two points upon the spindle. For instance, the spring is provided at the inner end with a bearing-lip, 30, adapted to bear upon either of two shoulders, 31 32, of the spindle B,-according to the position in which the spring maybe inserted in the casing. By this means the action of the spring may be made either to open orrclose a door, or applied to swing the door to the right or left.

Some of the features above described may be used without being connected with the other, accordingly as. it is desired to make a door-spring or a buffer device.

Without limiting ourselves to the precise construction and arrangement of parts shown, we claim 1. The combination of a case containing a fluid, a rotatory spindle within the case, a piston within the case surrounding the spindle and movable longitudinally thereof by the turningof the spindle, and a contracted channel for the passage of the fluid from one side of the piston tothe other, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a case containing a fluid, a rotatory spindle within the case, a pis- .ton within the case surrounding the spindle and movable longitudinally thereof by the rotation of the spindle, means for preventing the rotation of the piston with the spindle, and a contracted channel for the passage of the fluid from one side of the piston to the other, sub-- stantially as described.

3. The combination of the case, spindle, sliding piston, channel connecting the spaces above and below the piston, and valve for clos-v ing said channel in the spindle,connected with an operating device outside of the casing, substantially as set forth. I

4. The combination of the case, a rotating spindle therein, a piston sliding on said spindle, and a channel connecting the spaces above and below the piston, the openings to the channelbeing arranged substantially as set forth, whereby the piston inits movements does not cover them, as described.

5'. The combination of the casing, spindle, sliding piston connected to be moved by the rotation of the spindle, circulating-passage in said spindle opening above and below the piston, and adjustable valve for regulating the opening in said passage, substantially as set forth. I I,

6. Thecombination,with the casing, rotating ,f spindle, sliding piston, circulating-passage,

' and spring, of a'shell arranged within the easing and connected to the spring and provided with adjusting means, for the purpose specified;

7. The combination of the casing, revolving spindle provided with arms extending later-v ally therefrom, asliding piston having projections with inclined edges affording bearings for said arms, a passage connecting the spaces above and below the piston, and a valve carried by the piston and arranged to close as thepiston moves in one direction, substantially as set forth.

8. The combination, with the sliding piston,

of the rotating'spindle having armsbearing upon projections, a piston having inclined edges, and a cam carried by the spindle corresponding in form to the bearing-face of the piston and affording a bearing for the piston, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

' 9. The combination, with thesliding piston and rotating spindle, of arms carried by the spindle and bearing on cam projections of the piston, a cam carried by the spindle, and arms upon the piston bearing upon the said cam,

the parts constructed and arranged to positively move the piston in both directions by the rotation of the spindle, substantially as set forth.

body of liquid against which the piston bears,

of an inclined bearing upon the piston and a bearingarm upon the spindle, the piston-bearing arranged to be passed by the bearing-arm before the spindle'completes its movement,

whereby the resistance of the'piston to the rotation of the spindleis removed, substantially as set forth.

12. The combination of thecasing, spring, spindle, having a fluid-passage, 18, therein, and connected to a sliding piston, and a valve carried by the piston, substantial] y as set forth.

13. The combination, with the casing, a rotatory spindle, sliding piston connected to be moved by said spindle against a body of fluid in the casing, and contracted passage forthe circulation of said fluid, of an arm extending from and turned by the spindle, and a longer arm or connectingrod jointed to the end of the spindle-arm and hinged at the point upon a door or frame between the casing and the hinge of the door, substantially as and for the purpose set'forth.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

- HENRY A. HOUSE.

HENRY A. HOUSE, JR. ,7

\Vitnesses:

VVALTER W. FENTON, WM. A. BARNES. 

